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Enger

Town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

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Enger (German pronunciation: [ˈɛŋɐ] ) is a town in the Herford district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

01Geography

Enger is situated between the Teutoburg Forest and the Wiehen Hills, approx. 6 km west of the town of Herford, the capital of the district.

Neighbouring places

Town divisions

Enger consists of the following districts (population as of December 31, 2005):

  • Belke-Steinbeck (2,471 inhabitants)
  • Besenkamp (1,849 inhabitants)
  • Dreyen (1,404 inhabitants)
  • Enger (7,809 inhabitants)
  • Herringhausen (West) (430 inhabitants)
  • Oldinghausen (773 inhabitants)
  • Pödinghausen (2,181 inhabitants)
  • Siele (122 inhabitants)
  • Westerenger (3,797 inhabitants)
Lutheran Church St. Dionysius in Enger
Lutheran Church St. Dionysius in Enger

02History

The town, first mentioned in 948, calls itself "Widukind's town." The Saxon leader Widukind died about 808. However, there is no evidence that Enger existed in his lifetime.

A legend tells that Widukind founded a church in Enger after his baptism, and that he lived at the place until his death. He was buried in the church of Enger, and his monumental tomb is still there. Despite this, it remains doubtful that the remains of Widukind are actually in the tomb. Analysis shows that the memorial slab dates to the time around the year 1100.

The main current attractions of Enger are Widukind's tomb, the Widukind museum, the Widukind festival ("Timpkenfest"), held annually on January 6 and the "Kirschblütenfest" in April.

03Population

Historical population
YearPop.±% p.a.
1965 15,845,     
1970 15,808−0.05%
1975 15,926+0.15%
1980 16,133+0.26%
1985 16,481+0.43%
1990 17,194+0.85%
1995 18,925+1.94%
YearPop.±% p.a.
2000 19,963+1.07%
2005 19,989+0.03%
2010 20,010+0.02%
2015 20,658+0.64%
2020 20,469−0.18%
2025 20,518+0.05%
Source: Landesdatabank Nordrhein-Westfalen

04Notable people

  • Wolfgang Aßbrock (1952-2007), politician and member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Parliament (2005-2007)
  • Wilhelm Müller (1875-1957), politician
  • Heinrich Vedder (1876-1972), missionary
Watch videos about EngerExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Enger, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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